


The Mission

by shenkai



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Crossdressing, M/M, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Minor Violence, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-01-15
Updated: 2007-01-15
Packaged: 2017-11-11 10:31:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/477591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shenkai/pseuds/shenkai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duo is sent on an undercover mission that brings a lot of secrets about his lover to light. Warning: Bastardization of Heero, sexual situation, cross dressing, violence. 2x5, 1x5</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mission

**Author's Note:**

> “Kiss the Rain” Words and Lyrics by Billie Meyers... reprinted without permission  
> Authors Notes:  
> This has been a long time in production. The pilots have all grown up, no more 15 year old boys playing at being adults. It was just going to be a simple songfic around the song Kiss the Rain, but it kind of evolved from there. The song is there, in the middle somewhere, and so is the simple songfic. I guess you could say it is done in three parts, but I didn’t want to break it up. A prologue, the songfic, and an epilogue, I just hope you don’t mind where I ended it.
> 
> ~*~*~*~ Lyrics  
> //thoughts//  
> @=@=@ Flashbacks

The five pilots were gathered around Sally Po's desk, watching her and Une's presentation of their new mission. Trowa and Quatre had already done their part, and given the nature of the enemy, from their reconnaissance, it was decided that one person would infiltrate the company until there was a chance to get them for all their crimes, not just stop the planned attack on the colonies.

"They're in need of equipment that the sweeper ships have been picking up. Duo, since you've been a salvager, it would appear you are the best candidate to go in. You'll have to try to limit your contact with the group, can you do that?" Une asked, pushing the portfolio to the American.

He looked over at Trowa, who just smiled blankly. "Sorry, Duo. We couldn't get much information. Our informer hinted at past war crimes, but was unable to get into what they were since he barely joined on after the war." Quatre apologized.

Duo rolled his eyes as he opened the file. His face went white when he saw the picture on top. It was of a man he'd tried to forget. Somehow even the smile on this guy's face looked sinister, and the nose looked downright evil. Duo had to resist the urge to look at the mirror on the wall and make the same face as was on the picture, just to see if it looked the same on him.

"What is it, Duo?" Wufei asked as Duo closed the file.

Heero took the file from Duo's lap, before he could react, and opened it. "Richard Malachi. CEO." Heero read from the picture. He flipped through the file, looking for any evidence of what the informant was hinting to.

"Yes, Mr. Malachi is who you need to contact, Duo." Sally said.

Duo shook his head. //When pigs grow wings and fly.// "I'll try. But I doubt he'll see me. You should send Heero."

Wufei looked puzzled, and got up to look over Heero's shoulder, as Heero once again turned to the picture of the man. He was an older, plump, very sinister looking man, but different somehow from the other targets, at least to Duo. Short, chestnut brown hair and large crystal blue eyes, it was easy to see how others could be fooled into trusting the man, to see past his outright evil appearance.

"I can't go. I'm due in court over the last mission. The date is set for next week." Heero said, closing the folder and handing it up to Wufei.

"Can I talk to Duo, alone?" Une said, coming up to the Chinese man to retrieve the file.

Wufei looked up as she snatched the folder away. He blinked as Une's eyes bore into his own. "Yes, well, I need to go over Heero's testimony with him." Wufei said, picking up his briefcase and going toward the door.

"That's right." Heero said, getting up to follow, as Une set her glare to him as well.

Trowa and Quatre also made lame excuses as they left before her glare could be directed at them, pulling Sally with them as they went.

"Duo. You've never tried to pass on a mission before. Who is this man?" Une asked, pulling the picture out of the file, forcing Duo to look at it.

He smiled, realizing that no one but him could see what was so blatantly obvious to him, had been ever since he first saw the man on one of his many "business trips" to the slums of L2, and the woman found dead shortly after he left. No, he was most definitely not someone Duo wanted to get close to. His mother made that mistake once, and he became an orphan, not that he remembered any of it anyway.

He clutched the cross on his chest, it truly was the only part of his mother he ever had, closing his eyes.

 

@=@=@

"Richard, he's your son. I've been with no one else."

"A likely story, Sister. If I found my way into your small cloistered bed, I'm sure many others have too."

@=@=@

 

Duo opened his eyes. He'd never heard that before. Picking up the cross he looked at it, truly looked at it for the first time. It was covered with dirt and debris, a piece of black cloth had been glued to the back, long before it came to be in his possession, and looking at it now, he realized that the cloth was coming free. Pulling it away, he saw the bright silver shine of the clean metal, and the engraving on it, hidden away all this time. "Sister Rose of Sharon."

"What?" Une asked.

"My mother was Sister Rose of Sharon. See. It's written on the crossbeam." He showed her, a folded slip of paper falling into his hand. He dropped the cross back to its place and unfolded the paper.

> _My little Angel,_
> 
> _I hope this finds you safe and well. It is my greatest hope that you find peace, this war can't last forever, and no everyone is not like Richard. I hope that you took only the good from him, the part of him I fell in love with. Oh, Angel, I'm so sorry that I can't be there for you, but if tonight's performance is any clue, it is better that I give you up before I confront him again, hide you somewhere only I can find you. Father Maxwell will keep you safe, listen well to him, my Angel, and mind his rules til I can return for you._
> 
> _Patricia, Sister Rose of Sharon._

"I didn't think you knew who your mother was." Une said, as he read the note. "And I don't see what she has to do with him." She had been pacing and turned to face him again with the picture when she saw his violet orbs full of tears.

"Come on, my Angel. My Duo. Let's go." Wufei's phantom voice entered Duo's mind. Wufei was always calling him 'My Angel' and somehow now, seeing it on the piece of paper from his mother, it made him smile that at least someone in the world called him by the name his mother gave him.

"Duo, what does she have to do with Richard Malachi?" Une asked, this time making sure she had his attention.

"He killed her, like he killed all his lovers. No one to latch onto him, no children to claim him as father. She must have been the first, he didn't kill her til she tried to get him to claim their child. By then the child was three and didn't understand why he had to be left with a funny man dressed in black while his mom went away with tears in her eyes." He balled up his fists in anger. "If it wasn't for him, Duo Maxwell wouldn't exist. I would have gone on living with my mother. I might have had a normal life."

"He's your father!"

Duo nodded. "I only suspected it before, but Mom's note here confirms it. Apparently my given name was Angel. But Une, please don't tell anyone. I'll let them know in my own time."

Une nodded, admitting defeat. She understood his need for privacy. He, for all his obnoxiousness, was still a very private person and this was something he needed to deal with before he shared it with the world. "You'll figure it all out. And I'll try to find someone for the mission. I could always call. . . ."

"No!" He interrupted her before she could finish. "I'll do it. I've wanted to make him pay for so long, but it is hard to kill someone who is, who looks so much like an older version of yourself. You can help me find justice for my mother's death."

"It's your call. I'll let you know when you'll have a chance to make contact with him. Remember, you have to go alone, can't have any contact with us. In the meantime, take the rest of the day off and spend some time with that man of yours. That's an order."

"What about his briefing with Heero?"

She nodded, picking up the phone and dialing Chang's office. "Chang, go home. Spend time with Duo. There's no telling how long this mission will take."

  
  


Duo left two weeks later, under the assumed name of Harold Sanders he moved into a rundown shanty near a salvage yard, that he, the real Mr. Sanders, owned, or had owned before all his holdings were seized when the Preventers busted him for running a child slave ring out of the yard.

He and Wufei had said their goodbyes the night before, a wild night in bed with a promise to do it again as soon as he came home. Sally had come to pick him up that morning, giving him a phone and a laptop. "They're encrypted so they can't be traced or tapped. Call only in case of an emergency. Try to send us regular reports, maybe ever other week, and we'll do the same." She stopped a few blocks away from the house. "Oh, and here, take these. Can't have you ruin your eyesight in this sunlight?" She handed him a pair of sunglasses as he exited the car.

He slipped them on and instantly a voice intruded on his mind, it was Heero's. "Good morning, Duo. The man you are looking at is Max Calandra, attache to Richard Malachi. As right hand to Mr. Malachi, he's the most likely contact to give you a way to Mr. Malachi. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make contact with this man. . . ." Images about the mission flashed before his eyes, a complete briefing as he walked down the road.

He was in front of the salvage yard as Heero's voice finished the briefing. "If you are apprehended during the course of events, the agency will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This message will self destruct in five seconds."

"Nice touch, Yuy." Duo said, throwing the sunglasses over the fence into the salvage yard. They disintegrated before hitting the rubble below.

  
  


He met with Mr. Calandra the next day, but it was three more days before he was able to meet with Richard Malachi, and that was by an invitation to a night club known for its live entertainment. The night's billing included a famous stripper and a new face making her first appearance tonight, Angel Lang, a singer.

The singer descended to the stage seated on a crescent moon, dangling high above the audience. Her sapphire blue dress, with a thigh high slit and almost backless design causing whistles to sound from the audience as she stepped on the stage. "You give me fever. . . ."

As she sang, Duo felt something stirring inside him, his body reacting to the sound of her voice, her sultry notes floated over him, making him long for release. Never had a woman's voice drawn that response from him, and now sitting just in front of the stage, he felt very uncomfortable and tried not to look at the display. "So why did you bring me here?" He asked, trying to get some work done.

"Now Hal, that's very rude to talk during a show. Have a good time tonight. There is plenty of time for business tomorrow." Richard said, his eyes following the woman as she moved from the stage toward their table. "I think she likes you." He gestured with his eyebrows at the girl, as her hand traced Duo's ear as she brought him around to face her.

Sloe eyes met purple ones, holding him captive as fingers traced down his mostly unbuttoned shirt, her knee on the side of the dress with the slit came up between his thighs, as she leaned to him, pressing him back to his chair. "...fever all through the night."

Long lashes and blood red lips hovered, inches above his now very shocked face, as the tan skin and Asian features brought such a stirring in his loins. She bypassed his lips, dropping the hand that held the microphone to her side as she leaned closer to whisper in his ear, "Invite me to join you, my Angel. And later invite me home. Harold is known to do that from time to time." She winked as she pulled away. The applause was deafening, so no one heard as he muttered, "Wufei."

"My, My. All this applause could really turn a gal's head. But I suppose I could preform another song."

Duo grabbed the girl's wrist. "One more song, then the rest of the night is mine, Angel."

She nodded, "Only one more song."

Richard laughed as she sauntered away. "I guess I don't mind another one at our table. So you do live up to your reputation, Hal. My only question is, do you share?"

Duo laughed, pulling the nearest waitress into his lap. He asked for another drink and then whispered in her ear that his friend at the table would like her kind of company. She smiled, going to Richard to suggestively run her fingers over his chest and whisper that she'd be back, leaving to retrieve Duo's drink.

Angel Lang finished her song and spent the rest of her time at Harold Sanders's side, sitting between him and Richard Malachi, she had to playfully bat Mr. Malachi's hand away more than once before Mr. Sanders got tired of it all and made a way too obvious exit for Miss Lang's liking, but once they were in his car, on their way to his house, she lost all her shyness, and her femininity.

"God, how I've missed you, my Angel." Wufei said, kissing Duo wherever he could, leaving lipstick traces all over his shirt and body as they stopped at a stoplight near the house.

"Good. Now wait till we get home. I still have to drive." Duo said, pushing his koi back to his side of the car.

"I guess I'll fill you in on the changes to the mission." Wufei said, retouching the makeup he wore in the mirror on the back of the visor.

  
  


They arrived at Mr. Sander's place with Duo having been completely briefed about the mission, and so now had the rest of the night to themselves, or so they thought. Entering the house, the answering machine blinked showing eight new messages. "I'll go change into something more comfortable while you take care of that." The Chinese man said, still keeping up the feminine facade as he walked into the room Duo had pointed out as his bedroom.

As Duo listened to the messages, all from prospective buyers, he noticed that not only had Wufei not emerged from the room yet, but a group of girls came from the opposite side of the house, and were now waiting in the living room for some kind of recognition.

"You must be Harold's new assistant. He said you'd be staying here in his absence. I'm Morgan." A Redhead said, coming off the couch to wrap herself about him. "I'm sorry we haven't run into you before now, but we've our duties that keep us away."

"Yes, and if you remember his instructions, no one is to know that I am not Harold. I assume you all know how he likes his privacy." Duo said, removing her probing hands from his body. "I too like my privacy, so do as you are accustomed to."

"Yes, about as much as he likes his women, and you seem no different, just perhaps more refined in your taste. We're about to head back out. Here's Hal's take for the night." Morgan said, tucking a wad of bills in his pocket. "Jill's a bit ill, but we saw that sexy thing you brought from the club, so Jill's in there now with her, giving her something less formal to wear, then she'll be going to her mother's house for the night." Morgan was out the door by the time she finished her monologue.

Duo rushed into his bedroom, finding Jill about to leave, her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, scarf wrapped around her head and neck, tucked into the red overcoat she wore over her pantsuit. Quiet respectable compared to what her comrades were wearing, she winked as she walked past him to the door and left the house, locking it up behind her.

"I forgot you are also a pimp." Wufei said from the bathroom, wearing the silky baby doll that Jill had brought him, the pink outfit just barely covering his manhood, she had neglected to provide him with the matching underwear, not that he would have worn them if she had.

"Jesu, 'Fei. I didn't know you were into the whole cross-dressing thing." Duo said, as he began to undress himself. He was overcome with a certain shyness, as if this were their first time all over again, and looking over at his koi, he realized by the blush that had covered Wufei from head to toe, that he too was overcome with the same feeling. Now clad only in his boxers, he quickly made it across the room, pinning Wufei to the wall under a barrage of kisses, his hands reaching up under the hem of the baby doll to stroke his lover. "I guess I'm seme tonight."

Wufei was gone in the morning, and though he knew he only had to look for Angel Lang to have another night with his koi, now he needed to concentrate on the job at hand. He had a morning appointment with Richard, and he was definitely not going to miss this opportunity.

  
  


It was two weeks later, and Richard had yet to make a serious move with his new friend "Hal Sanders," and Duo was getting antsy. He sat alone on the couch in the living room, waiting for Morgan to leave for her mother's house, for the weekend. The evening news was on, not that he was really watching it as he played a game of solitaire on the laptop Une had provided for the mission.

The news anchorwoman's voice filled the room. "In other news, up and coming cabaret singer, Angel Lang was found dead today in her penthouse suite at the Plaza Hotel. It was revealed today in the course of the investigation into her death that she was a secret operative for the Preventers organization. She was brutally murdered, her body was so damaged, DNA was used to help identify the 26-year-old singer. Preventers HQ was contacted and their director did not wish to comment other than to say that they wished Miss Lang's family well, and were going to be very diligent in their search for her killer."

Morgan came from the kitchen at the sound of the news report. "Isn't she that girl you brought home a couple of weeks ago?" She sat down next to him, leaning on his shoulder as he watched the news.

"Morgan, I'd like to be alone, please." Duo said, picking up the laptop as he got up to go to the bedroom.

"Alright. I'll leave now. But if you need anything, I'll leave my mother's number on the counter."

Duo nodded as he closed the door to the room. Morgan quickly jotted the information down on a message pad that was usually next to the phone and put it on the counter. As she was leaving, two men dressed in matching black suits were about to ring the bell. "Can I help you, gentlemen?"

"Is Mr. Sanders around?" The taller one asked as they both held up a badge for her inspection. He had brown hair that covered one green eye, and the other visible one gave her a piercing glare, suggesting she better get out of his way.

"Um, yes. He's in the front bedroom. I was just on my way out, but you can go on in." Morgan said, moving between him and the blonde to go to the waiting cab.

They watched her leave before going inside. They closed and locked the door, searching the rest of the house before they went to the front bedroom. "Duo, we're here for your briefing."

"Who killed her?" Duo asked, coming out of the room, the clip to his side arm in hand as he began to load it. He led them to the dining room, and positioned himself opposite them, so he wouldn't have to turn when he had to kill them if it was one of them.

"Her cover was blown. She infiltrated Malachi's business. He was about to order the hit." Quatre said as Trowa opened the briefcase he was carrying.

Black gloves, a bloody knife, a gun, and a red silk scarf with something wrapped in it, all in little plastic bags, were taken out of the briefcase and put on the dining room table. "You used chloroform to sedate her, shot her in the back of the head at close range, cut off her hands and feet and took her trademark scarf as a trophy. True to form, no fingerprints were found. The man who was in her bed will be found in a couple of days, he too was shot in the back of the head, but not mutilated. His name is Edward Barton, unfortunately one of Malachi's contacts from the colony, a sweeper, but he was a witness and therefore had to go." Trowa was very cold and methodical as he explained it.

"She was a clone, the real Miss Lang is alive and well, she is in protective custody, and truth be told, she really doesn't look like the Miss Lang you met at the club. Unfortunately, it was the real Edward Barton who was killed." Quatre said, before producing a syringe and a vial.

"Memory serum?!" Duo backed away from the two.

"Duo Maxwell doesn't lie. You have to be able to say you did it." Quatre seemed to be apologizing even as he loaded the entire contents of the vial into the syringe.

  
  


Duo woke up alone on the couch, two hours later. The scarf with the hands and feet was in a small, black, coffin-shaped box, along with the knife and gloves. A small hammer and eight picture frame nails were next to it, as was the coffin's lid. He nailed the lid to the box and went to the salvage yard, burying the box deep in the ground and covering the mini grave with a pile of junk.

 

~*~*~*~*~

Hello,  
Can you hear me?  
Am I getting through to you?

~*~*~*~*~

Duo sat on the bed, a cell phone in hand, and images of Angel Lang's violent murder in his head. The images were of a woman's body, but his lover's face, pleading present in those sloe colored eyes, and fear as the chloroform took over her body, and she fell slack in his arms, blood and brains from the man who was on top of her splattered over her chest. His mind therefore had pieced it together that he killed her and her lover in a jealous rage. He had a feeling Harold Sanders would do that type of thing and use it to his advantage now that Mr. Malachi was one sweeper short.

He dialed home, waiting for his real koi to answer, perhaps to make sure he was really alive. The answering machine picked up after four rings. //Figures, the number is untraceable, and therefore anonymous.// He waited for the end of the greeting, so impersonal, it was a computer generated voice, more of a security measure than anything else, still a throwback to the war when they trusted no one.

"Hey, Hon. It's me. I just wanted to hear your voice. But . . . " he hung up, holding back the tears. He stared at the phone, willing the shakiness of his voice to stop as he punched in the digits again. This time it only rang twice before there was a breathless answer.

Duo smiled, he was home and alive. "Hey Wu-bear. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Hey, Angel. No, I was just exercising. I tried to catch you the first time, but you hung up."

//He was giggling inside. It was so obvious in his voice. What's so funny about exercise?// Lightning flashed outside the dark window and Duo looked at the clock, it was almost midnight.

~*~*~*~*~

Hello,  
Is it late there?  
There's a laughter on the line, are you sure you're there alone.  
Cause I'm trying to explain.  
Something's wrong, you just don't sound the same.  
Why don't you, Why don't you  
Go outside, Go outside.

~*~*~*~*~

"It's almost midnight. Isn't it kinda late to be doing your katas?" Duo asked.

"I couldn't sleep?" Wufei said. It was more of a question, like he was looking for an excuse. All in all it was a little odd for Wufei.

"Are you alright?" Duo asked, feeling a little unsure of everything right now. Wufei was behaving oddly. "Is anyone there?"

"I'm fine. Trowa and Quatre just left. The three of them came over trying to cheer me up. We watched a movie. How are you?"

//He didn't say Heero left. He didn't say he was there either.// He sighed, wishing the images in his mind weren't making him so unsure about Wufei. "I'm still just a little woozy from today. I miss you. Are you sure you're alright?"

He could tell Wufei was getting irritated. "I'm fine. Is there anything you want in particular? The kettle is whistling and I don't want to burn the tea."

"Is my Billie Meyers CD still in the stereo?" Duo asked, hearing the rain spatter on the tin roof, mirroring the tears falling from his eyes.

"Yeah, sure. I haven't touched the stereo since you left."

"Do me a favor. Listen to it, the song. You know the one."

"Fine. I've gotta go now. The tea. I'll listen to it right away. Good night, Angel."

"I love you, 'Fei. Good night."

~*~*~*~*~

Kiss the rain . . . whenever you need me.  
Kiss the rain . . . whenever I'm gone too long.  
If your lips . . . feel lonely and thirsty.  
Kiss the rain . . . and wait for the dawn.  
Keep in mind . . . we're under the same sky,  
And the night's as empty for me as for you.  
If you feel . . . you can't wait till morning . . .  
Kiss the rain, kiss the rain, kiss the rain

~*~*~*~*~

"Who was on the phone?" Heero asked as Wufei set a cup down on the coffee table in front of him, picking up the remote control to the stereo.

"Duo. He just wanted to make sure he didn't really kill me. You know how memory serum works." Wufei said, as the opening chord to Kiss the Rain began to play on the speakers throughout the house, drowning out the sound of the storm outside.

"So is exercise the newest euphemism for what we were just doing?" Heero asked, pulling him back down on the couch.

"Heero! What else was I going to say?" Wufei asked, as Heero began to slide his hands against his golden skin.

"How about while the cat's away the mice will play." Heero said, his lips following his hands along their course down the Chinese man's naked body.

The thunderclap was so loud it covered the music, before the room was plunged into darkness. "A bit sappy, your choice of song. Who would go outside and kiss the rain anyway when they have a living, breathing, and willing body pressed against them, hard and naked, and wanting to be inside you so badly?" Heero said, pushing him down on the couch, his lips covered Wufei's as his fingers pressed against his hole, opening him up for him.

"Oh God, Heero." Wufei said, breaking the kiss as his body writhed under Heero's assault.

The lights came back on as the generator kicked back in and Billie's voice continued her song. "...we're under the same sky, and the night's as empty for me as for you. If you feel, you can't wait til morning, kiss the rain . . . " Wufei pushed the Japanese man off of him, guilt washing over him as he realized what Duo had been trying to say on the phone.

"Go home, Heero. I can't do this tonight." Wufei said, picking his robe up from where it lay on the coffee table.

"Oh, so we can do it every other night that Duo's not here, just not now because I made fun of your song." Heero said, pulling on the jogging pants he had worn over to the house.

"I just can't ok. I close my eyes and I see him sleeping alone in that strange house. I know he's lonely, and it's not fair that I'm not. Go away and leave me in peace." Wufei said, leaving the room after putting the song on repeat. It would be torture, but he was going to be faithful to Duo tonight, and maybe just maybe take the song's advice.

He heard the front door slam shut, and winced. It was going to be tense at work tomorrow, and who knows how much longer. His guilt was consuming him, when he heard the phone ring again.

~*~*~*~*~

Hello . . .  
Do you miss me?  
I hear you say you do, but not the way I'm missing you.  
What's new?  
How's the weather?  
Is it stormy where you are?  
You sound so close but it feels like you're so far.  
Oh, would it mean anything,  
If you knew what I'm left imagining,  
In my mind, in my mind.  
Would you go, would you go.  
Kiss the rain . . .

~*~*~*~*~

"Hey, Duo. I'm glad you called. I'm listening to the song." Wufei said, opening the door to the lanai off of the master bedroom.

"Do you miss me?" Duo asked, and Wufei could hear the tears in his voice.

"Very much."

Duo shifted uncomfortably in the chair he was sitting in. The window was open. He blamed the wet on his face on the rain. "How did the trial go?"

"Fine. He was convicted. Heero's testimony was the key."

"I can't wait until this mission is over. I want to see you again."

"I don't know when that will be possible."

Duo winced, and thunder crashed loudly through the phone. "It sound's like there's a storm over there."

Wufei almost laughed, "I'm just on the other side of town, surely it's stormy there too."

"Yeah, but across town may as well be a hundred miles away. Did Heero leave yet?"

"Yes." Wufei replied, unease in his voice.

"Before or after you fucked? Did he feel as good as me? Did Edward feel as good as me? Did they fill you the way I do? How did it feel when they came inside of you?" The anger rising from bits and pieces the memory serum was creating.

"Jesus, Duo. I'm NOT Angel Lang. I'm Chang Wufei, your life partner. Angel Lang is a singer and she's dead." There was desperation in his voice, he wasn't denying anything, but that itself wasn't an affirmation of any guilt.

"I know. I killed her. But if I came home tonight, would I have killed you too? Would I have splattered Heero's brains over your body before I threw him out of the way so I could get to you?"

Wufei sighed, deeply. "Duo, I am alone. I am alone at our home, and like an idiot I'm standing out on the lanai."

Duo looked out of the window that was letting the rain come in, its tears splashing on him. He looked hard, as if he could see his koi standing there in the rain. "I'm sorry. It's just . . . when I called before you were so strange. You sounded so distant. I thought . . . Well it doesn't matter what I thought. I love you, 'Fei."

"I love you too, Angel."

Duo hung up the phone. He felt like an idiot. He had been so sure. He called Heero, who answered on the third ring. "Moshi, moshi? Who is this?" He sounded breathless, as if he just got home and was running to answer the phone.

"It's Duo. I just wanted to brief you on my progress. I had to wait until I was alone. Is it a bad time to call?"

"Nah. I just endured the equivalent of a cold shower on my walk home, so I'm fine. You have my complete attention. What's up?"

//So he was just getting home!// Duo's mind screamed as rage threatened to consume him. The images were becoming very clear in his mind now, as it replaced Edward's face with Heero's. "Where are you coming from?"

"We sorta had a get together at Chang's house."

"It's my house too! Damn it, Yuy. Leave him alone." The murderous rage that was threatening to take him over was rising as the storm was outside to a fevered pitch.

"Your report, Soldier!" Heero's voice was stern and sobering.

"Fine! I have a meeting with Malachi tomorrow. I'll need my ship and crew ready for our game. Have them meet me at our usual spot, they'll know where." He slammed the phone down. It was all becoming hopeless.

~*~*~*~*~

As you fall on the knee,  
Think of me, think of me.  
Think of me, only me

~*~*~*~*~

Wufei's robe fell away, flying off the lanai into the night, leaving him standing in the rain, naked. He was crying, the violent wind sending him to his knees, bracing him as he faced the wind and rain, daring the lightning to strike him, make him pay for his sins.

He couldn't remember why he and Heero had started sleeping together when Duo was away, but he did remember when it started. Heero had been hiding out at their house, after a mission since he was now being hunted by the villain's minions. Duo had gone out with his sweepers, clearing up after the armaments found during the mission and had to leave before telling Wufei anything, since he was in court. He had been asleep when he felt someone trying to arouse him.

He had figured it was Duo, or maybe he dreamed it was Duo, home late and horny, Even though he had only been half awake, he had begun to give in to the sensations, finding it a little odd that his koi wouldn't let him touch him. It wasn't until Heero entered him that he knew at once it wasn't Duo, and he tried to fight back.

 

@=@=@

"No one is here to hear you. Duo will be gone for a week. Why not let me take care of you?" Heero said to the back of his neck as he pressed him into the bed.

@=@=@

 

Wufei remembered how humiliating it had been, he hadn't been able to move, and then the next morning, when he woke up naked above the covers while Heero was sitting up on Duo's side of the bed, waiting for him to wake up. "If you try to fight me again, I'll tell Duo it was all your idea. Now come on, give me some before you have to go to the office."

It wasn't a two-way relationship. It was one of blackmail. Wufei always gave in to keep it from Duo, and in a way make it feel less humiliating, since once Heero figured out Wufei wouldn't fight him, he let him participate.

He thought of Duo, only Duo, then, now, and always. This was the first time he had rejected Heero, and it felt good. Somehow it didn't matter, and he wished he had done it a long time ago. He wished it didn't take Duo flipping out for him to see what he could lose.

As he felt the rain wash over his body, he suddenly wished he was across town, with his Angel. He couldn't even call him to say so either.

~*~*~*~*~

Kiss the rain . . . whenever you need me.  
Kiss the rain . . . whenever I'm gone too long.  
If your lips . . . feel hungry and tempted.  
Kiss the rain . . . and wait for the dawn.  
Keep in mind. We're under the same sky,  
and the night's as empty for me as for you.  
If you feel . . . you can't wait till morning . . .  
Kiss the rain, kiss the rain, kiss the rain  
Kiss the rain.  
Kiss the rain.  
Kiss the rain.  
Kiss the rain

~*~*~*~*~

Duo got onto the back of his motorcycle. He didn't notice the rain, the wind. He was on a mission, and the sooner he could get it over with, the better. He was Duo Maxwell, rebel and thief. If he couldn't do this, then he deserved to die. He parked on the roof of the parking garage to the Malachi building. Richard lived in a penthouse suite at the top of his empire, and if it came down to a face off then so be it, but first he was going to try to find what they were looking for.

He had Edward Barton's access card, which he used to gain access to the building. As suspected, it hadn't been deactivated yet, it was a trap, Richard would know he was there soon enough. Thankful that he had learned from Heero and Trowa how to hack into a system, he found the IT center of the building and locked himself in. Disabling the video surveillance system, he wanted to make sure everyone was as blind as he was if he had to fight. He then went through the files, searching for the ones from 195 and 196, finding many of them were encrypted.

DNA scans from the hair retrieved from the crib at the scene of Sister Pat's house confirm paternity. The brat is missing, no one knows where she stashed him. Will find a way to find my son, if it is the only thing I accomplish before I die. Scans of the children from the streets have proved negative so far, but there are so many of them. I had my scientists develop a virus to infect them, that only my son will be immune to. That should weed him out from the rest. Angelus Maxwell. I have to find him.

"Angelus Maxwell?" Duo asked aloud. //So Father Maxwell was my uncle.// The diary entry was evidence that Richard created a virus to be used as a weapon of genocide. One more charge against him, and one more person that he had stolen from him by this monster.

"Mr. Sanders, is it? How nice of you to come by. Please, come up for a visit, Mr. Maxwell. There is much we have to discuss, my son." Richard's voice came through the building's PA system, and Duo looked up from the screen, expecting to see the monster in front of him.

He was downloading the last of the encrypted entries to the hard drive he brought with him, waiting for the download to be complete before he accepted his father's invitation, side arm drawn, in case he had to fight his way to the top.

  
  


"I'm so sorry it has taken so long to contact you, but when we had drinks at that club, I stole a genetic sample to make sure you were the real Harold Sanders. I only found out that the real Harold Sanders runs his operation from an asteroid, there is no real Harold Sanders on earth, is there? He has his assistant assume his name, while he stays in space, the asteroid's low gravity keeping the virus from killing him. He grew up on one of the colonies at L2 apparently, and has managed to survive the plague that wiped out many of the kids on the colony." Richard said, setting down a file he had collected on Harold Sanders and another file.

"So, you called me Mr. Maxwell. Who do you think I am?" Duo asked, picking up the files that Richard had set down.

"I have no idea what you think your real name is, but I know your mother named you Angelus Maxwell. She told everyone an angel of God came to her and got her with child. I'm her Angel of God." Richard said. "Please, put the gun away. I do not intend to hurt you."

"I intend to kill you, as you killed my mother, and all those people on the colony." Duo said, aiming the gun at his father's head.

"No. You have a mission, don't you? Harold Sanders wants to take over my empire. If you kill me, you'll be his new target, you are my only son. When I die it all falls to you. All the triumphs, all the guilt. Trust me, there is plenty I need to pay for." Richard raised a gun from his side, holding it to his temple. "Either you shoot, or I will. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in prison."

Duo smiled, taking aim with his gun, he fired, shooting the gun out of Richard's hand. "You lose, Father." He reached into his pocket and withdrew his badge. "I am Duo Maxwell, Preventers Special Forces. By the rights given to me by the Earth Sphere Alliance I am placing you under arrest for crimes against humanity and the state. You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and believe me you'll need one. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you." He came up to him, placing the collar on him that worked so much better than handcuffs, causing almost total paralysis, and giving Duo control over Richard's movements.

He sat him down on his chair, before reaching over the desk to pick up the phone, calling Trowa to come and pick him up.

Trowa arrived a few minutes later, as if he had been expecting the call. "He's all yours, Tro. I've gotta go home."

"We'll need your report in the morning." Trowa said as Duo left the room.

Duo waved his hand absently as he walked out the door, the mission's cell phone in hand, calling home as he entered the elevator down.

"Duo!" Wufei said, answering the phone, desperation in his voice.

"Hey counselor. I need to brief you on the mission. I have a new case for you, another criminal to bring to trial. Can we meet at your office? Or should I just come to your house?" Duo said, exiting the elevator on the roof level of the parking garage.

"Come home!" Wufei pleaded. "I've got so much to tell you. I'm so sorry, Duo."

"I don't want to hear apologies over the phone. I'm coming home. Don't tell anyone." Duo hung up the phone. It was just as he expected, his Wu-bear was feeling guilty, and he had a feeling deep down in his gut that it had to do with Yuy.

Wufei started having doubts about telling him as he heard the motorcycle turning up the drive. He traced the monogrammed DM on the robe he was now wearing, since his had been lost to the wind. Silver letters on the plush, black, terry cloth, it still smelled of Duo's cologne, and he knew he was acting like a silly woman.

Duo pulled his bike into the garage and instantly regretted that they had the garage built separate from the house, not because of the rain, for that had stopped by the time he left the parking garage and was on Main Street. He was just eager to be home, to see his beloved Wu-bear. He draped the saddle bags over one shoulder and began his trek back to the house. The garage was behind the house, and knowing Wufei would be waiting in the den, he went around to the front.

"So, it's over then?" Wufei asked, answering the door in Duo's robe, his wet hair dripping down his back.

Duo nodded, setting the saddlebags down on the floor before unlacing his boots to remove them. "I broke in, well actually he was waiting for me, and I did have the search warrant. He just never asked to see it, it's actually mine, so I guess I gave myself permission to search the premises." Duo said, confusing himself.

Removing his boots, he slipped on the slippers that matched the robe his koi was wearing, stepping closer to him now, to capture him in a hug, and a most chaste kiss on the lips. "Anyway, I'm tired and would like to go to bed. If you think the case can handle your absence, I'd like for you to come with me to clean up this mess."

"Sure. My schedule is clear right now. But what do you mean it's yours?" Wufei asked leading down the hall to their bedroom.

"HE knew I wasn't Harold Sanders. He had them scan my DNA. He found out I was his son. Apparently he put the legit side of his business under the care of a trust in his son's name, Angelus Maxwell. You see, he never married, and during the war, some punk kid with a long braid down his back removed his balls on one of his visits to the colonies, so once he was face to face with his mortality, he realized the bastard he denied all those years ago would be his only heir." Duo explained. He had begun to pace the room, the excitement of the events of the night catching up to him.

Wufei watched from the safety of the bed, and smiled. "Angelus. That's cute."

The phone rang causing both men to jump. "Hello?" Duo answered their phone which was on the night stand.

"I was wondering how long you were going to torture yourself before you just did what you're good at. Why else do you think we chose you for the mission?" Sally's playful voice said in his ear. "Come by tomorrow and I'll give you the antidote for the memory serum."

"It's alright. I think it was good for me to see that side of me." Duo said and hung up the phone.

"You want to keep the memories of Angel Lang's death, even though your brain put me in her place? You want to think that you killed me in a murderous rage because I was cheating on you?" Wufei asked, causing Duo to chuckle.

Duo went over to the bedroom door, picking up a strange shirt that had been carelessly left where it had landed when it had been discarded by its owner. "It wasn't the thought of you cheating on me. It was catching you mid-coitus. It was watching him pump into you." He opened the shirt, recognizing it for its owner wore it often enough when they were all just hanging out. A throwback from the days just after the war, when the Preventers put them through college, honing their skills to make them better Preventers. They sent Wufei to Harvard Law School, Trowa to MIT, and Heero to Georgetown, that same bulldog glared at him now from the abandoned shirt. "How long?"

"It's not what you think. He said if I didn't, he'd find a way to make it seem like it was all me. He said he'd tell you that I came onto him when he stayed with us, remember that? He said if I didn't it wouldn't be good for the team." Wufei curled up on the bed, hiding his face behind black clad knees, thankful that Duo was not only taller, but liked his robe to be full length, so there was plenty of cloth to hide himself in.

Duo nodded in understanding. "For the sake of the mission, we must. For the sake of the team, don't say a word. For the sake of . . . whatever. Heero's good at that." Duo said knowingly. "No, I don't blame you, and if he wasn't so damn good at his job, I'd kill him."

~*~*~*~*~

Hello . . .  
Can you hear me?  
Can you hear me?  
Can you hear me?

~*~*~*~*~

The phone rang. Duo still had the handset in his hand. He looked at the caller id. "It's him. Answer it." Duo said, handing the phone to Wufei.

"Hello?" Wufei answered the phone.

"Hey, there's been a development. This will be the last night we have, lover. I'm on my way over." Heero said, the music from his car radio playing in the background.

"Development? What kind of development?" Wufei asked.

"Duo will be home tomorrow. He's gone ahead and infiltrated the Malachi building downtown. You can't say no, now. I'll forgive you for your behavior earlier, but don't think I can endure it twice without consequence."

"But. . . ."

"Your protests are moot. I'm pulling into the driveway. Answer the door." Heero said, hanging up the phone.

"He's here." Wufei said, putting the handset back on its charging cradle. "How do you want to play it?"

"Well, you really need to answer the door, don't you think?" Duo suggested, balling up the shirt in his hand. He looked at his closed fist, then had a better idea. "No, you wait here. The door is unlocked, let him let himself in."

"What are you going to do?"

Duo smiled, "Just stay in here and lock the door. This is between him and me."

  
  


The song was still blaring as Heero entered the darkened house. He kicked off his shoes and ventured further into the dark room. "Hide and seek? I'm really not in the mood for games, Chang."

The sound of the door locking turned Heero's attention back to the entryway. "Why are you toying with me?"

The shadowy figure who locked the door was already behind him, soundlessly moving around to the stereo's remote, using it to raise the volume even louder, and the perfect soldier's senses went into overdrive as he suddenly went into defense mode. "Wufei, this isn't funny. That song ruined the mood before and it isn't much of a help now either."

The music stopped. "For the sake of the group? Tell me why I shouldn't do to you what I did to Edward Barton?" Duo said, turning on the lamp next to his easy chair, where he sat, gun pointed at his former lover, its laser sight visible on Heero's forehead.

"I kept him from bringing anyone else to your bed." Heero said, moving closer now that his quarry was in sight. "I kept your dragon from being lonely and pining for you while you were away. He wanted it just as much as I do."

Duo stood up, the gun still aimed at the Japanese man's head. "So he asked you to crawl into my bed, take my place? Or was it you wanted to get back at me for breaking it off with you, you wanted to take something from me? Shall I take something from you too?" He pulled back the hammer of the pistol.

"Duo, let's be reasonable. Let's discuss this without firearms."

"As soon as you drop the one in your hand behind your leg." A dull thud sounded as the small caliber pistol fell to the plush rug at Heero's feet. "Good boy. Now backup slowly and sit on that stool I had waiting for you."

"What are you going to do?" Heero asked as he backed up to the barstool.

"If you must know, I'm going to tie you up, then I'm going to go have mind-blowing sex with my husband, erasing every trace of you from his mind, and in the morning we'll decide what is best for the sake of the group." He flashed his signature smile, reveling in the thought of Heero being tortured by Wufei's moaning. "Or, you could take your shirt and get the fuck out of my house. Either way, we never want to see you again outside of work without the others present. From now on you will be the last to arrive and the first to leave when the five of us get together, and you'll forever have to wonder when I'll forget about the sake of the team and just kill you anyway."

"Aren't you overreacting just a bit?"

"Are you going to get the fuck out of here, or am I going to have to kill you? As you can see, Yuy, I'm not in the mood to fuck around. For the better part of the day I've had the image of someone violating my marriage bed, it wouldn't take too much imagining to put you in Edward's place, and show you just as much mercy as I showed him." He had begun to move closer to the barstool now. His manic indigo eyes and Shinigami smile was sending Heero's senses into overdrive. They both knew that they were evenly matched as far as hand to hand combat, but Duo had a gun, and usually a knife hidden about his person, and he also had jealousy on his side.

"I'll leave, and we can discuss all of this later, when you're your normal self. We must work it out, for the sake of the team."

Duo laughed, maniacally. "For the sake of the team, I will not kill you. We will not talk of it. I will not tell anyone, and neither will you. You will leave my husband alone. You will not pursue him outside of work, and only see him at work when your job requires it. You will stay clear of me until I have had time to get over this, and you will start to move on with your life. Take a wife, a husband, whatever floats your boat, and leave us, our relationships alone. That is your mission, do you understand?"

At the last sentence, the whole atmosphere of the room changed. A mission, Heero would accept, and do anything in his power to carry it out. Duo knew that, and was put at ease, knowing Heero would now leave, and not bother him again. He knew that inside Heero wasn't a bad guy, but that the war had done something to all of them, given them each a vulnerability, and Heero's was that he didn't really know how to cope with emotions.

Heero stood, bowing to the American. "I just want you to know. I did it for you. I care."

Duo nodded. "I know. Good bye, Heero."

 

\- END -

**Author's Note:**

> I do have a sequel to this mostly written and will post it once it is done, under the title The Aftermath.


End file.
